2018 Symposium

Tom Cathcart

Thomas Cathcart spent most of his career in health care, including serving as chief operating officer of a hospital and directing a boarding home for people with HIV/AIDS. After he retired, his old college pal, Danny Klein, enlisted him to co-author a book about how jokes can illuminate philosophical ideas. To their shock, after being rejected by 40 publishers, Plato and a Platypus Walk into a Bar—Understanding Philosophy Through Jokes became an international bestseller. Two more joint books followed. Cathcart recently published his first solo effort, The Trolley Problem, or Would You Throw the Fat Guy Off the Bridge?

Cathcart is married to Eloise Balasco Cathcart, who coordinates the graduate program in nursing administration at New York University.